fifth form

Chapter 2490 The Empress Dowager Has Changed Her Temperament
"Master Dongfang!"

"It's just a little water, you can dip it if you want!"

Wei Qing followed Zhang Xuezhou into the palace, walking in almost silence along the way.

But on the way to Anle Palace, Wei Qing saw Zhang Xuezhou approaching a Taiping jar, then looked around and swept his sleeves into the Taiping jar.

The Taiping jar is a container for storing water in the palace. It is suitable for taking water nearby. It can be used for washing and irrigation. It is also a necessary setting for preventing fire in the house.

This kind of jar is huge and is always filled with water all year round. Even if you wipe your sleeves on the jar, they will get wet.

Wei Qing didn't understand what was going on, so he looked around, then quickly put away his sleeves and quickly caught up with Zhang Xuezhou.

"The dew on the leek, how easy is it to dry up? The dew dries up and falls again tomorrow. When a person dies, when will he return?"

Walking hurriedly along the palace, many officials of all ranks dressed in black mourning clothes came into view. Some stopped in panic, some knelt down and worshipped, and some even chanted funeral words.

Wei Qing saw Zhang Xuezhou raising his wet sleeves quite familiarly, and then chanting funeral words at the same time. This made Wei Qing finally understand why Zhang Xuezhou got water on his sleeves.

He gritted his teeth, raised his sleeves, and then sang the funeral lyrics together.

These funeral songs are not new. They are just a few sentences repeated over and over again, and are very easy to chant.

If we put it in the perspective of ordinary people, this kind of mourning words are similar to "Mom, my dear mother."

Wei Qing became familiar with it after singing a few lines. When Zhang Xuezhou turned around, he heard the sound of funeral songs getting louder in his ears.

"Your voice is too rough!"

Zhang Xuezhou gestured a little, and his lips moved to convey his thoughts, but he gave up trying to persuade her afterwards.

"Just sing it the way you want to sing. Everyone will follow you when they see you singing a funeral song!"

It was very natural for Zhang Xuezhou to blend in with the group of officials by singing at funerals, but it was a bit difficult for Wei Qing.

Firstly, Wei Qing cried loudly, and secondly, Wei Qing was the Taizhong doctor who led the etiquette.

Seeing Wei Qing singing the funeral words, many officials, both great and small, had no choice but to sing along to avoid making mistakes during the funeral ceremony.

Everyone knew that the era of the Empress Dowager was over.

The speed of personnel turnover in the imperial court in recent years was very fast. Even the top three dukes and nine ministers could not escape appointment and dismissal. There were also people who lost their lives in such changes, and some were even caught in internal strife and their nine clans were exterminated.

In the current court, the leaders are almost all from the Anle Palace faction, so it is no wonder that many people are in panic.

Anyone who makes a mistake in public will inevitably become the target of criticism.

The money converted from officials' salaries is limited, but the privileges they enjoy are enormous and what they can possess is beyond the reach of ordinary people. No one thinks about stepping down from their existing position, but only thinks about how to stand in line to avoid liquidation.

At this moment, almost everyone is avoiding making mistakes, and no one wants to be the first to stand out.

"I have practiced a technique of making sounds and exhaling. When I make sounds..."

"The dew will set and fall again tomorrow morning. I have practiced a method... when a person dies, he will leave..."

Wei Qing was about to cover his face and explain, but as a martial artist, he was not as flexible and convenient as Zhang Xuezhou in using magic. Before he could finish his whispered explanation, Wei Qing heard the official who was reciting the funeral words next to him also repeating the mistake.

"Don't panic, just keep your eyes open and look at them!"

Wei Qing's pounding heart finally calmed down when he heard Zhang Xuezhou's voice.

He stared with his eyes wide open as he looked at the officials who followed him in singing the song of mourning for his mistakes, which immediately caused the four of them to look horrified and they had to raise their voices in singing the song.

For a moment, the sound of funeral singing outside Anle Palace rose and fell like waves, and the sound became louder and louder.

Outside the Anle Palace Hall, which could accommodate thousands of people, there were officials everywhere. The voices of thousands of people began to converge into a stream, and the funeral speeches became increasingly unified.

Later on, not to mention Zhang Xuezhou, even Wei Qing found it difficult to hear his own voice clearly.

"Dongfang Shuo really knows how to be an official. I would never do this before!" Wei Qing rolled up his wet sleeves. When he looked around, he saw Zhang Xuezhou constantly moving in small steps and slowly squeezing into a group of minor officials in the palace.

"Those are people from the Eunuchs' Office... Why did Han Yan, Guo Sheren, Sang Hongyang, and Mei Gao go over there?"

Wei Qing wanted to follow, but when he saw many minor officials standing in a group, he touched his crown and had to walk forward.

Zhang Xuezhou was free without an official position, but Wei Qing was Taizhong Daifu, second only to the three dukes and nine ministers. There were only thirty or forty officials at his level, and there were corresponding places for officials to gather, which was even located at the front of the square of the Anle Palace.

The funeral of the Empress Dowager had only been underway for a few hours, and high-ranking officials at the level of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers had gathered in the main hall of Anle Palace.

Wei Qing didn't know what these people were discussing, but he guessed that the matter was related to funeral rituals, or perhaps it was accompanied by some disputes, which led to the door of the Anle Palace being locked.

"Whose land is this in the weeds? It gathers souls of all kinds, wise and foolish. The ghost master is urging us. Human life cannot but hesitate."

The wailing outside the palace was like a tide. Xu Chang inside the Anle Palace had dull eyes and was also mumbling to himself.

The atmosphere in the hall was extremely solemn.

A heavy coffin engraved with a fire phoenix was placed in the center. The coffin lid was not closed, revealing the Empress Dowager wearing a golden jade dress.

The officials of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers stood in two rows, with the new emperor standing in the front and the empress lying under the coffin crying loudly. On both sides were the empress dowager and Empress Dou who were in a tense situation.

"Covering up a death is a capital crime!"

The sounds of ministers crying outside Anle Palace spread into the hall. The Empress Dowager looked at Concubine Dou, then frowned at the Grand Empress Dowager in the coffin. Her face was solemn and filled with unspeakable emotions.

The time is not one year, nor is it two years.

From her prime to her old age, the Empress Dowager has waited for too many years.

Time was too harsh on Emperor Jing, and it was also too harsh on her.

He was extremely cautious almost all his life, only because the Empress Dowager was too powerful and controlled too much.

"I have explained it again and again. This is my mother's legacy!"

Empress Dou frowned.

According to the arrangement of the Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager Dou and the Empress Dowager supported each other and then took over everything from the Grand Empress Dowager.

But even though her daughter was the empress of the current emperor and Empress Dowager Dou and the Empress Dowager could be called sisters, things did not go according to the script of the Grand Empress Dowager.

Taoist Master Zhenyuan’s intimidation only suppressed the outside world but not the inside, and failed to intimidate the Empress Dowager who had suddenly changed her temper.

Looking at the Empress Dowager who had been diligent and dutiful in the past, Empress Dowager Dou found it hard to imagine how tough the other party would be now that she had the leverage over her.

But Empress Dou knew the other party's purpose.

"Where is the imperial edict?" the Queen Mother asked repeatedly.

"After my mother fell ill, she was unable to move, and all her last words were spoken," said Empress Dowager Dou.

"You just said it casually," the Queen Mother said angrily, "You used the name of the Grand Queen Mother to do things for your own benefit, and secretly concealed the death date. I don't know how many people have moved home!"

“You’re talking nonsense,” Lady Dou denied.

"I won't talk about other things. Gillian's health care costs hundreds of millions of dollars. I roughly estimate that she has spent at least 60 million dollars. Where does she get all this money from?"

The Queen Mother's face was filled with anger.

A glimpse of the leopard in the cage can reveal a glimpse of the leopard. The empress dowager only needed to look at the crying queen to feel that the Dou family was constantly draining the treasury of the Han Dynasty.

The entire court was filled with people from Anle Palace, and the beneficiary of the court was also Anle Palace. An endless stream of money, natural treasures, and treasures flowed into Anle Palace, while the Empress Dowager, the new emperor and others had made little profit over the years.

If she didn't take this opportunity to put pressure on the other party and force him out, the Queen Mother would have followed Emperor Jing for so many years in vain.